The Forgotten Zodiac

((No, then. Moar fun. xD))

Verolen nodded eagerly, letting go of Israel and running off again. Sylas, who had been watching from the other end of the hallway eating a loaf of bread and several apples, said, "I dunno if I remember him ever being this happy...maybe you should tell him what that other guy did when he was in Verolen's body..."

"But that would make him sad," ISrael said. "I don't want Verolen to be sad."

"Yeah, but it would be okay, because it definitely wasn't him doing that stuff." Sylas shrugged, holding out an apple to the Laguiz. "Apple? They're really good. Second-best only to the apples Jemina would give me, which is saying something, because Jemina's apples were the greatest."

"Minori?" Verolen called, stepping into the throne room. "You in here?"

Israel nodded and smiled. "Thanks," he said, taking tha apple.

Minori had been looking at the tapestries on the wall, wandering around. He was gently tugging on the Sunstone, once his father's, around his neck. He turned around when he heard his name. "Oh, Verolen! You're back?" he asked.

Sylas smiled and nodded.

"I am!" Verolen stepped in the rest of the way and nodded happily. "And guess what else? I'm me again! See, the Phantom had put someone else in my body, but the others found me and put me back. He didn't do anything bad while I was gone, right? Because that would be bad...anyways, where's your dad? I should tell him the good news, too."

Minori's jaw went slack for a minute before he regained composure. "Verolen? You... you must've been gone for a long time. I'm... I'm king now," he said.

Verolen stopped in his excited tracks. His face fell. "Oh...um..." He rubbed his arm, not sure what to say now. He had been gone for a long time, and he wondered now how on earth he was going to adjust. Kazue was gone, Sylas was missing an eye, they had Manny and Rush's Library thing had been activated...or, worse still, how they would they re-adjust to having him back? He didn't know how the other guy had acted in his body. He had probably been bad...

Verolen scratched the back of his neck and decided to ask, "What...what happened? If...you don't mind telling."

"To my father? Your dad killed him. Then he overshadowed me and nearly let mee bring the downfall of my own kingdom. But things are okay now," he said.

"I...I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad things are doing better, though," Verolen nodded quickly. There was silence for a long moment. He suddenly asked, "How was I? Er, the other guy. That was in my body. Was he mean? Did he...do anything?" He bit his lip, not sure how to word his questions.

"To me? No. But he didn't like Israel much," Minori said. "Think he hit him a few times. Israel took it pretty well, though," he said.

"What?!" Verolen's jaw dropped. "No! That's not okay! Did he do anything to anyone else? Is that how Sylas lost an eye?" He asked quickly, forgetting that Sylas had already told him about Vala.

"No, that was Israel's mother, Vela," Minori said. "And no, I think it was just Israel. You were downright surly, though," he said.

"Oh...well..." Verolen frowned, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I'm sorry about whatever he said or did, if anything. I'll try not to get replaced next time. I've gotta go talk to Israel!" He darted off, charging back down the hall. "Israel!" He called, running back to the infirmary.

Israel poked his head out of the sanctuary. "I'm in here, Master!" he called. He hesitated a beat before calling. "Verolen! I'm over here, Verolen!"

"Israel!" Verolen screeched to a halt near the door. "Come on, you know I can't go in there. Come out here so I can apologize. Minori told me that I had hit you...I want to know if you're okay. I mean, really okay, not just okay physically."

Israel trotted over. "Why can't you go in--- oh, right," he broke off that train of thought and stood there, blinking at Verolen. "Well, of course I'm okay. That wasn't you, so I'm okay," he said.

Verolen seemed to hesitate, then nodded. "I'm sorry, though. I was stupid, I didn't think my father was capable of doing something like that...er...yeah..."

"Hey!" Manny called from the other side of the hall. "Where's Eve? Have you seen her?" He wrung his cloth hands together, looking upset.

Israel nodded. "She was in here just a little bit ago. But she left," Israel said to Manny.

Manny frowned unhappily, and wandered off again, back the way he came. Of course, he knew better than to go near the Sanctuary.

"I've never seen such a massive amount of Dark Matter...much less one that could talk. And control a puppet." Verolen sighed, scratching his head. "Where did we find that thing?

Israel thought about it for a moment. "The boat. We found him on Eltanin's boat," the Siren nodded.